IMSA: 25-year prison sentence for former ALMS entrant Greg Loles

Half of the ownership team behind the former Farnbacher Loles ALMS team was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday for "mail, wire and securities fraud, as well as money laundering," according to the New Haven Register.

Loles, who fielded a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the ALMS GT2 category with Horst Farnbacher (father of factory SRT Viper pilot Dominik) from their base in Danbury, CT., was arrested in December of 2009 and accused of embezzling millions of dollars from St. Barbara's Greek Orthodox Church.

According to the New Haven Register's reporter Evan Lips, Loles was "originally set to be sentenced Monday, but new revelations accusing him of swindling $14 million from a prominent Greek family prompted U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson to seek more information. Prosecutors say Loles stole money from more than 250 victims."

The court believes Loles' total take through Ponzi schemes nears $30 million. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. McGarry addressed Loles and some of those he defrauded during the hearing, making little effort to spare the defendant's feelings.

"What he did wound up ruining lives like a cancer eats away from someone's insides," said McGarry. "This is a man who earned people's trust, and they could not see the trouble coming. A true wolf in sheep's closing."

Once Loles was taken into custody in 2009, the Farnbacher Loles team was quickly shuttered. The negative attention brought by Loles' improprieties, which included allegations of embezzled money being used to fund his sports car operation was, at the time, a black eye for the ALMS and has now been put to rest with the 55-year-old's fate having been settled by the courts.